John A. Koten

Koten, John A. A prominent supporter of the arts and education in Chicago and a leader in the field of public relations, died in Hinsdale, IL, at age 84. Mr. Koten lived in North Barrington and Barrington Hills for a total of more than 30 years and was active in the Barrington United Methodist Church and the local school system. Known by his friends as "Jack", Mr Koten spent his entire career in various operating, financial, and corporate communications capacities in what was known as the Bell System. He worked at AT&T, Illinois Bell, New Jersey Bell, and retired as senior vice president of Ameritech and president of its Ameritech Foundation in 1994. He was known as a strong proponent of corporate social responsibility long before it became popular to do so. It is believed that it was also his idea to add the # and * to the telephone keyboard when the first push button phones were launched. As executive director of the Better Schools Committee of Chicago, he spearheaded a referendum that increased funding for education in the city. He also served as a member of the Illinois Schools Problems Commission and as a trustee of his alma mater, North Central College in Naperville, IL, where he received an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1991. The Koten chapel at North Central is named in the family's honor. He also received an honorary degree from Quincy University in Quincy, IL. He was a life trustee of the Associated Colleges of Illinois. Koten had a great love of the arts and ceaselessly advocated their importance to the culture of the city. He served as a life trustee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and as a director and treasurer of the Arts Alliance Illinois. He was a strong supporter of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, helping to facilitate the funding of several productions. He also served as a director of the American Symphony Orchestra League in Washington, D.C., was vice chairman of the American Arts Alliance in Washington, D.C., and a member of the board of overseers of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He was instrumental in helping to bring the Monet water lily exhibit to the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1990s. Another proud moment involved arranging sponsorship for the Lyric Opera's production of Puccini's Turandot, with sets by David Hockney. Koten founded the Arthur W. Page Society, an organization of Fortune 500 senior corporate communications professionals dedicated to upholding high standards in the field. Koten was inducted into the Arthur Page Society Hall of Fame in 1995. Following his retirement, he compiled and edited Building Trust, a book advocating that corporations have a duty to operate with integrity and play a positive role in the communities from which they derive economic support. He did not like referring to what he did as "pr" or "publicity" but rather believed the role of the senior public affairs officer of a company was to learn what problems were hurting relations with important constituencies and then to develop and implement solutions to those problems. He loathed the concept of "spin." Early in his career, Mr. Koten contributed to The Walker Report to the National Commission on The Causes and Prevention of Violence, which investigated the causes of the riots in Chicago following the Democratic National Convention and was later published under the title Rights in Conflict. He also served as director of business and industry for the Illinois Sesquicentennial Commission. Other foundations and civic organizations in which he played a leadership role included serving as chairman of the Great Books Foundation and a director of the Economic Club of Chicago. He was a director of the Church Federation and chairman of the Board of Pensions of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church. When the 120-year-old United Methodist Church in Barrington, burned to the ground in 1998, he was instrumental in helping to raise the funds to build a new church. He also served as a trustee of the District 220 Educational Foundation, which raises money for Barrington's public schools. He participated actively in the Public Relations Society of America, the National Manufacturers Association, the Conference Board, and the Chicago Advertising Club. He was on the board of visitors of the Medill School of Journalism and was a director of the Plank Center for Public Relations at the University of Alabama. He owned a summer home in Rochester, Indiana, and vacationed there throughout his life. It was there that Mr. Koten began a lifelong love: a fascination with trains. As a youth he'd often make an effort to get to the tracks to spot the first signs of a Nickel Plate or Erie Lackawana locomotive as it rumbled toward town en route to South Bend or New York City. He still has many of the photographs he took at that time. His first college essay was about his favorite train, the 8:10 that departed Rochester for New York each evening. As a student, he memorized the timetables of every major train route in the U.S., so that, at any given moment of the day, he could report which train was pulling into which station. He also traveled to see some of the vaunted trains of his time like the California Zephyr and made an effort to be on the scene, with a view from a bridge and camera in hand, as the Santa Fe's Super Chief and El Capitan made a rare side-by-side appearance at a Chicago train station. He once listed his favorite trains as the following: Broadway Limited (Pennsylvania); Super Chief and El Capitan (Santa Fe): California Zephyr (Burlington, Denver & Rio Grande, Western Pacific); Erie Limited (Erie); Panama Limited (Illinois Central); 20th Century Limited (New York Central). Abraham Lincoln (Rock Island); James Whitcomb Riley (New York Central); Capitol Limited (B&O); Trailblazer (Pennsylvania); Empire Builder (Great Northern); North Coast Limited (Northern Pacific); 400s (Northwestern); Hiawatha (Milwaukee Road); Red Arrow (Pennsylvania); Sunset Limited (Southern Pacific); Phoebe Snow (Lackawana); Crescent Limited (Southern). Mr. Koten was born in Indianapolis and served in the U.S. Army at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. He is a descendent of Indiana poet John E. Troutman and was preceded in death by his parents, Roy Y. and M. Margaret "Peg" Koten (Neerman). He is survived by his wife, Catherine M. Koten (Hruska); a sister, Jane Koten; three children, John (Marisa), Mark (Karen), and Sarah (Tom Manley); and four grandchildren, Jake, Graham, Mak and Kate. Funeral services were held January 9 at Good Family Funeral Home in Rochester, followed by burial at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Rochester. Memorial services will be held later in the year at the Barrington United Methodist Church in Barrington, IL, and at North Central College. Memorials may be made to North Central College or to the Barrington United Methodist Church. Those interested in attending one of the the memorial services should email: jfkoten@gmail.com for details.